Harper wins DIII Men's XC National Championship

Photos by Matt Patenaude of Holyoke Community College

Westfield, Mass. -- Led by two top five individual finishes, the Harper College (Ill.) won the 2011 NJCAA Division III Men's Cross Country Championship Saturday on the campus of Holyoke Community College in Westfield, Mass. 

Pablo Ramirez finished fourth overall with an 8k time of 26:02.53 and Cisco Soto finished seventh at 26:57.58 to give the Hawks the upper hand in the final team standings. Harper finished with just 60 total team points, which was well in front of SUNY Delhi (N.Y.) - 97, Mohawk Valley Community College (N.Y.) - 113, Broome Community College (N.Y.) - 184, and Gloucester County College (N.J.) - 200. 

Harper also benefited from a 14th place finish by Ryan Wojdyla (27:12.45) and a 21st place finish by Steven Heer (27:34.66).

Robert Allen of CC of Rhode Island was the first to cross the finish line (25:23.46) followed by Chris Burnett of Delhi (25.37.52) who finished in third place a year ago. Cesar Gatete of CC of Alleghany County took home third place honors (26:00.48). Last year's champion Ozzie Huerta of Gloucester County College (N.J.) came in fifth (26:05.36).

The team championship is the first for Harper in men's cross country and snaps SUNY Delhi's streak of seven consecutive Division III men's national championships. 

*1-5 finishers = First-Team All-Americans; 6-10 = Second-Team All-Americans; 11-15 = Honorable Mention All-Americans

Complete Results